Spirit Air and Frontier Air Advice

[Cackyschmackers]

Hi! We are doing our first B2B this summer, 3/4 nt to Nassau/CC. We previously only cruised with DCL.in winter months and all were 7- or 8-nts EC and WC so we had a LOT of luggage between the 5 of us... larger sized carryons plus personal items for everyone plus big checked bag we needed for formal nights, excursions, more than one outfit for each day etc. The "regular" airlines we usually fly have fares off the charts for this summer. I waited and waited but fares keep going up, might be the days or times, not sure, but we don't do red eyes or connections, layovers etc (no reason to for flying out of PHL>MCO). So I'm considering booking either Spirit or Frontier. We've only flown Frontier once, for a 5 day trip to WDW and were able to get by with their "one personal item" per each of us and one checked bag bc it was end of summer (nice weather so no need for different outfits per day or heavy clothes). Frontier has since changed their dimensions for their personal item, which are smaller now, same as Spirit. I'm wondering if we can get by with one personal item again per person with only one checked bag (no full-sized carryons). My real question here is if anyone knows how strict their sizing policy is. Their dimensions seem odd, off from last time we flew them. We'll have no formal night and no real excursions. Just wondering if anyone has any insight. Thank you. P.S. Yes, we are being cheap and trying to keep costs down bc this B2B is waaaaay over our budget.

 

[lspst8]

We fly Spirit a lot and frequent just do 1-2 checked bags for our family of 4 plus 2-3 personal items, like back packs or tote bags. I think as long as you aren't wheeling a normal carry-on bag or trying to take a huge duffle bag, they aren't too picky. The personal item has to fit under the seat in front of you.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

We fly Spirit a lot and frequent just do 1-2 checked bags for our family of 4 plus 2-3 personal items, like back packs or tote bags. I think as long as you aren't wheeling a normal carry-on bag or trying to take a huge duffle bag, they aren't too picky. The personal item has to fit under the seat in front of you.

Thank you. We struggled with the dimensions the first time we flew on Frontier. I realized that even though our bags were plenty small to fit under the seat in front of us, they actually were too large per Frontier's guidelines. I was told later that we got lucky and even though our personal items fit perfectly fine (with room to spare ) under the seats in front of us, that we could have been charged the high last-minute carryon fee of over $40 each (that would have quickly added up to over $200 for the 5 of us). I did see the "bag sizer" at the gate, but we were not asked to see if our bags would indeed fit in the sizer. Ours wouldn't have bc as I said above, the dimensions are odd (18" × 14"× 8"... the 8" is what's very small). Just.wondering how strict Spirit is since we've never flown them. Wondering if they have the bag sizers as well at their gates.

 

[mmouse37]

I think most airlines now have a bag sizer at the gate.

MJ

 

[lspst8]

They have bag sizers, but I've never seen them actually make some check their bag size prior to boarding.

You may want to look into Spirit's $9 Flight club. It's $60 per year and you get discounts on bag fees and some flights. I joined because it saved $50 (even after the $60 fee) for my family of 4 on just one flight.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

@lspst8 Thanks. I couldn't figure out if we all had to join that $9 club.or not. We didn't join.

 

[jrabbit]

If getting home, or even to your destination is at all important to you, make sure that they have multiple flights per day, so in case something happens (like they decided to cancel your flight and NOT tell you) so that at least you have an opportunity to make it to your destination.

Our one time trying to use Frontier they "Cancelled" our return flight by 40 hours. I found out about 3 weeks before leaving for our trip. Called them and asked them when they were going to notify us of the change - their answer was "the day before!" Really!!!!!!!! we were on the ship at that point (the day before our flight) and would have never known until we arrived at the airport.

Needless to say, we cancelled the entire ticket and paid way to much to fly on a "real" airline.

BTW it was Frontier.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

If getting home, or even to your destination is at all important to you, make sure that they have multiple flights per day, so in case something happens (like they decided to cancel your flight and NOT tell you) so that at least you have an opportunity to make it to your destination.

Our one time trying to use Frontier they "Cancelled" our return flight by 40 hours. I found out about 3 weeks before leaving for our trip. Called them and asked them when they were going to notify us of the change - their answer was "the day before!" Really!!!!!!!! we were on the ship at that point (the day before our flight) and would have never known until we arrived at the airport.

Needless to say, we cancelled the entire ticket and paid way to much to fly on a "real" airline.

BTW it was Frontier.

Oh, my.goodness! What?? How did you find out it had been canceled, just by chance? I won't take a flight (esp to a cruise) on any airline that only has one flight coming and going each day. I've thought about that, esp bc we normally travel in the winter (what would happen with just a weather delay... nightmare). I noticed that before when reasearching "low fare" airlines. I will keep an eye out for that scenario. For both days of travel, both Spirit and Frontier have multiple flights, so I think we may be okay in that regard. I wonder if you didn't find out your Frontier flight was cancelled ahead of time if this is something that trip insurance would cover (albeit a royal pain. ..).

 

[gotomu212]

I'll say I had a totally different experience on Spirit and they were zealous with the bag sizes. I think about 25% of one flight I was on got charged the carry on fee. It might vary by airport how strict they are, but it's so penalizing when you have to pay at the gate that I've always been super careful.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

I'll say I had a totally different experience on Spirit and they were zealous with the bag sizes. I think about 25% of one flight I was on got charged the carry on fee. It might vary by airport how strict they are, but it's so penalizing when you have to pay at the gate that I've always been super careful.

Wow! Good to know. That's what I'd been told afterwards. May I ask which airport it was if you can recall? (or I should say, was it MCO or PHL?). Our bags this time will be.completely soft sided so even though one's a little longer than 18" I think we can smoosh it into the sizer. I wonder if that's okay.

 

[jrabbit]

Oh, my.goodness! What?? How did you find out it had been canceled, just by chance? I won't take a flight (esp to a cruise) on any airline that only has one flight coming and going each day. I've thought about that, esp bc we normally travel in the winter (what would happen with just a weather delay... nightmare). I noticed that before when reasearching "low fare" airlines. I will keep an eye out for that scenario. For both days of travel, both Spirit and Frontier have multiple flights, so I think we may be okay in that regard. I wonder if you didn't find out your Frontier flight was cancelled ahead of time if this is something that trip insurance would cover (albeit a royal pain. ..).

This was years and years ago!! I think that we were going to Florida a week or 10 days before the cruise. I was looking online and printing off the schedules and confirmations from airlines, rental cars, hotels, etc. For some reason for the flights I went to their website to look for the times - and our going there flight was listed but our coming home flight was not.

I now look for multiple flights each way by the carrier, and if flying in the winter time, look for southern routes (connections NOT in: Denver, Chicago, Minneapolis, NY/NJ, Salt Lake) even though those airports are prepared for that type of weather. I look for routes that go through LAX, Phoenix, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta since flying non stop to most of the country is not a viable option (1. there are NOT any from here to there or 2. Cost Prohibitive!!)

 

[Cackyschmackers]

Thank you. If anyone has any experience flying lately with either to MCO or in general, I'd love to hear it!

 

[hanscarlet]

My parents flew Spirit last month out of MCO and they said they were really strict on baggage and they were charged for all of their bags. Their tickets were "cheap" but they kind of ended up close to normal prices after the baggage fees. We flew American and we were asked in the terminal to have us check out our carry on, and they said it was too big and honestly it wasn't, it was your normal, standard rolling carry on case, I was surprised they checked it out... had they told us that it would have cost us an additional $25 baggage fee I would have put up a stink because it really was a regular size but they said it was free since we gate checked it.

MCO was much more crowded in my opinion than what I remember, there is a lot more building up there, they are expanding the airport and the people movers are under construction, there is now only one working and always a wait... not a long wait but factor it into your travels

 

[_auroraborealis_]

My advice is never fly Spirit.

 

[kateydid]

I fly Frontier out of PHL often and I have seen them pull people out of the boarding line and make them place their bags in the sizer. I think it depends on how big your bag "looks" and how many people are working that day. I've flown with bags over the dimensions (they fit under the seat fine) and consider myself lucky not to have been caught because they can and will charge you. I've had one (very!) bad experience getting from PHL to MCO when the combination of weather, mechanical issues, and woefully terrible customer service forced me to fly standby but my other flights have been fine. I continue to fly with them because sometimes you just can't beat the price.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

My advice is never fly Spirit.

Any.particular reason why?

Believe it or not, even if we all get charged for our carryons, it will still be cheaper than American. I don't know what's going on, but flights are still outrageous and we're less than 2 1/2 months out. I find 3-4 months out is the sweet spot for domestic air (keep in mind we're a party of 5 with little kids who need to fly together) and only fly nonstop since it's a 2+ hr flight.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Any.particular reason why?

Believe it or not, even if we all get charged for our carryons, it will still be cheaper than American. I don't know what's going on, but flights are still outrageous and we're less than 2 1/2 months out. I find 3-4 months out is the sweet spot for domestic air (keep in mind we're a party of 5 with little kids who need to fly together) and only fly nonstop since it's a 2+ hr flight.

In general, they have a very low number of flights per day in or out of most airports, and a bad record of canceling flights last minute. They don't tend to have backup aircraft at most airports (definitely not at MCO). When they cancel, you may be stranded for 24+ hours, maybe more. There is no guarantee your family will end up sitting together unless you pay for assigned seats, and if there are any mechanicals or other delays, they may try to split up your party. Their on-time record is pretty terrible.

 

[KVH]

There is a reason Spirit and Frontier rank extremely low on their service offerings. Then again, as for flights being cancelled, I've had that happen to me at least once with every major carrier except Virgin. Fact of life with any air travel nowadays. I don't doubt some people have had OK experiences with "low cost carriers" (that does sound worrisome). Face it, on average, you stand a higher chance of a bad experience with those two. That being said, $$$ is $$$. Frontier is probably slightly better of the two.

 

[Westcoastwild]

I don't think I'd do it with kids.

Have you considered flying out of DCA or Baltimore? I found nonstop flights to be much cheaper than out of Phl. No idea why. I was looking for December so it might be different for summer. But phl-MCO was ridiculously expensive.

 

[MillauFr]

Why would anyone fly Spirit when the previous CEO basically said their whole business model was to sucker people in with low fares and then treat them like garbage. His motto was "We don't do customer service". Why would anyone pay money to be treated like garbage?